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Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12
Proper 28A
Psalm 90 is very much a unified psalm and so despite the Lectionary’s chopping it up and stopping short of the last 5 verses, one may as well preach on the whole poem. Psalm 90 is one of several psalms that bears a striking resemblance to the primary themes found in the Book of Ecclesiastes. …
Zephaniah 1:7-18
Proper 28A
After spending a sustained amount of time in the books of Genesis and Exodus over the summer and early Fall, in the month-long lead up to Advent, the Lectionary plops us down into 4 different prophetic books. So part of the commentary each week will be to orient us to the argument of the book…
Psalm 70
Proper 27A
The odd and curious words “Aha! Aha!” occur four times in the Hebrew Psalter. Twice in Psalm 35, once in Psalm 40, and then here in Psalm 70. It is a translation of the Hebrew הֶאָח / he-ach and near as anyone can tell, a derisive “Aha!” seems to be a pretty good rendering of…
Amos 5:18-25
Proper 27A
After spending a sustained amount of time in the books of Genesis and Exodus over the summer and early Fall, in the month-long lead up to Advent, the Lectionary plops us down into 4 different prophetic books. So part of the commentary each week will be to orient us to the argument of the book…
Micah 3:5-12
Proper 26A
After spending a sustained amount of time in the books of Genesis and Exodus over the summer and early Fall, in the month-long lead up to Advent, the Lectionary plops us down into 4 different prophetic books. So part of the commentary each week will be to orient us to the argument of the book…
Psalm 43
Proper 26A
If you rounded up some Old Testament scholars and especially those who are experts on the Book of Psalms, you would likely find consensus among most of those people that Psalms 42 and 43 belong together such that you really cannot look at one without the other. Some might contend this had originally been a…
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Proper 25A
A Sunday Too Soon Looking at this reading and the liturgical calendar, I can’t help lamenting that the text has come just one Sunday too early. November 1 is celebrated, in many church traditions, as All Saints Day — an opportunity to remember our ancestors in faith. Certainly, this story of Moses on the cusp…
Psalm 1
Proper 25A
Psalm 1 is such a positional psalm. By that I mean that from start to finish this song is all about where a person is situated and what their posture or position is. We begin with a negative litany of where a blessed person must not be. A blessed person does not walk with sinners,…
Exodus 33:12-23
Proper 24A
Go Between The first 11 verses of chapter 33 spell out the way Moses was called by God to operate among the people. At first God indicates that Moses will need to lead the people on his own. It’s almost as if God doesn’t trust that He will be able to keep loving these hard-hearted,…
Psalm 96:1-9
Proper 24A
In the mid-1970s when I was a boy, our congregation in Ada, Michigan, got a new minister who tended to begin worship services using Psalm 96:7-8 as his Call to Worship. Over and over and more weeks than not I heard Rev. MacLeod say, “Ascribe to the Lord . . .” multiple times. I…
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